THE Panathinaikos he has the derby ahead of him PAOK for matchday 10 of the Super League and Rafa Benitez spoke of his team’s improvement in recent games, after the double at home to Malmö for the Europa League.
Rafa Benitez spoke to Cosmote TV about Panathinaikos – PAOK and analyzed the game of the Super League leaders, focusing on how his own team should perform in the Super League derby.
Benitez’s statements
Panathinaikos comes from a good performance, from a victory and psychology in Europe and now faces a team that has shown that it is in a very good condition, PAOK. How much will this result help you?
«Obviously the win and the three points gave us more confidence. I try to focus on the positives of the performance, the fact that we scored late in the game and played better in the last twenty minutes. They gave me more confidence, the desire and the mood of the team. So that was positive, because obviously we played against a good team. We know that we will have to fight until the end and you can be sure that the players will give everything for the fans who will be behind the team. This is a positive for us».
PAOK is a team that has tremendous pluralism in the way it expresses itself offensively, in the way it scores, in the way it creates. What should Panathinaikos do on a tactical level in terms of dealing with the opposition firstly and secondly, does that mean you will find more spaces and weaknesses in the opposing defense?
“I agree with what you are saying. They have different ways to score goals, with several football players, which makes the way more complicated. It’s not enough to stop one player, you have to watch out for them all. In terms of how to stop them, we will try to compete with the intensity that we have shown in some of our games, we will have to be more pressing in attack and be strong in defence. So we will have to find the balance we are looking for. So I’ll say again, it’s early days for us but we’ve shown some good signs and obviously we’ll be looking to improve.”
During your career you have experienced many derbies in different countries. The match against PAOK is not the classic typical local derby, but it is a derby between historically top teams of the Championship. How do you expect it, especially since it is your first and secondly, that you will experience a “hot” Leoforo tomorrow?
“I hope this will help us, in terms of intensity and the way we want to compete. On the other hand we have to manage that, because sometimes that passion transfers a bit more pressure to the players. But if we can find the balance, because that’s the key word, between the energy from the stand and our players on the pitch being in control, I think it will be very supportive.”